Hachona - Averting Potential Loss

Q. Does the prohibition of hachona apply in a situation where one is averting a potential loss? For example, I left chairs outside, and it is beginning to rain. May I bring in the chairs, even though I don’t need the chairs on Shabbos? Is this considered as though I am preparing them for after Shabbos?

A. Shulchan Aruch (OC 308:4) writes that items which are not muktza may be brought inside on Shabbos to prevent them from being stolen or ruined, even though you have no need for them on Shabbos. The Maharshag (OC 1:61) infers from here that activities that are performed on Shabbos not to save time after Shabbos but because that is when they need to be done or it is the only time that they can be done, are not considered hachona. In the above case, one is not bringing chairs indoors on Shabbos in order to save time after Shabbos, but rather to prevent them from getting ruined. This is not hachona. Similarly, the Maharshag permitted watching the milking of a cow on Shabbos to render it cholov Yisrael, so the milk can be consumed after Shabbos. Since the milking cannot be delayed until after Shabbos and the cow will not be milked at night, there will be no cholov Yisrael milk after Shabbos unless one watches the milking on Shabbos. Watching the milking on Shabbos is not done to save time after Shabbos, but rather because Shabbos is the only time that this can be done. Therefore, if there is a strong need for milk after Shabbos, he rules this is permitted.

____________________________________________________

The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.